As we say good-bye to March and welcome spring with open arms, I would like to share a favorite recipe featuring pure maple syrup with y’all.

While the food blogosphere is featuring everything pastel, spring and Easter, here at Wicked Good Kitchen I am shaking things up a bit and sharing a special recipe for syrup, Bourbon-Cider Maple Syrup, to celebrate the Maple Syrup Harvest season. After all, March is maple sugar season or, for short, “sugar season”.

According to LocalHarvest.org, Native Americans called March “maple sugar month”. In fact, maple syrup harvesting still takes place every year at the first sign of spring thaw—usually sometime in late February—and is celebrated through the end of April with Maple Syrup Fests also known as community pancake breakfasts or tastings. In fact, the biggest event in Vermont—the state that produces the most maple syrup—is the Vermont Maple Festival and, this year, the 49th annual event will take place April 24-26.

During the sugaring season, family farms large and small across New England and into Canada collect sap from sugar maple, black maple and red maple trees in old-fashioned buckets. The sap is brought into sugarhouses, also known as “sugar shacks”, where it is boiled down to make pure maple syrup. It is then carefully graded by maple farmers and packaged. In fact, a new grading scale was recently introduced and I think it is more simplified.

However, as of December 31, 2014, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and, as of March 2, 2015, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) issued revised standards on the classification of maple syrup.

New Grading for Pure Maple Syrup:

Grade A

Golden Colour and Delicate Taste

Amber Colour and Rich Taste

Dark Colour and Robust Taste

Very Dark Colour and Strong Taste

Processing Grade

Substandard

Most of the syrup is sold by the farm, at farmers markets or through retailers while some is reserved for the community pancake breakfasts on the farm where pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, homefries and fresh pure maple syrup are served. The community breakfasts are either served daily or on the weekends during “sugaring season”.

Did You Know?

It takes 40 years of growth before a sugar maple can be tapped, and it takes 35 to 40 gallons of sap to make a single gallon of syrup. Incredible.

Today I am actually sharing a set of recipes (shot last November) to celebrate Maple Syrup Harvest season due to my love of all things pure maple syrup. And, breakfast. What better way to accomplish this than with a couple extra special pumpkin recipes? Pure maple syrup and pumpkin go together like peanut butter and jelly, no?

Breakfast is hands down the favorite meal at our house and I feel as though I should (and have plans to) add more breakfast recipes here at Wicked Good Kitchen. We enjoy pumpkin well into April and I go through buckets of pure maple syrup because I use it often in my paleo baking recipe development. I also enjoy adding pure maple syrup to my paleo porridge, 3-Minute Coconut Almond Porridge, homemade paleo granola, paleo pancakes and waffles, etc., as well as in savory dishes.

This syrup, Bourbon-Cider Maple Syrup, is quite famous at our house. We even use it mixed with Dijon mustard to glaze our pork chops and holiday baked hams, and it is simply divine when paired with applewood smoked bacon. Well, I figured it was high time that I shared this favorite syrup recipe here on the blog. Interestingly, after conducting searches online and over at Pinterest, I have come to the conclusion that this recipe is the very first entry in the food blogosphere for this concoction. Booyah!

Many of my regular readers know by now about my love of bourbon found in several cocktails here on the blog, that my favorite apple is the Honeycrisp and that I enjoy working with cider. In fact, I often include cider reductions in my recipes to enhance flavors. For instance, our Best Ever Apple Cobbler includes a cider reduction in the filling, as does our recipe for Cranberry & Cider Honeycrisp Apple Crisp. Therefore, this syrup recipe should come as no big surprise.

An Interesting Fact About Pure Maple Syrup

Here is an interesting fact about two sugars. Pure maple syrup is alkaline whereas refined granulated sugar is acidic. Amazing.

This fact is partly why many have embraced pure maple syrup as part of detox protocols and cleanses, such as The Master Cleanse. Not only is pure maple syrup a source of concentrated energy, it contains nutrients, vitamins and minerals to boot. Follow The Master Cleanse link to read more about the detox benefits of pure maple syrup.

Ingredients

4 cups (960 ml) organic fresh pressed apple cider

2 tablespoons (30 ml) fine-quality bourbon

1 cup (240 ml) organic pure maple syrup

Pinch of kosher salt

Directions

In a large saucepan, bring apple cider to a full boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and simmer, uncovered and swirling the pan frequently, until the cider reduces to 1 cup, about 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and whisk in bourbon, maple syrup and salt. Cool until warm and transfer to syrup dispenser or small pitcher. Serve warm or cool completely before serving.

About Stacy

Stacy Bryce is a recipe developer and member of the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals). Her passion is developing original conventional baking recipes as well as special diet recipes to include dairy-free, gluten-free and grain-free. You can follow Stacy at Pinterest.

Stacy, I’m loving these posts and I’m craving fall now! This maple syrup looks like it would be the best topping ever for pancakes and french toast, and bourbon and cider combination sounds amazing! Pinned!marcie recently posted…The Pistachio Principle: Fool Yourself Full!

Oh YUM! What a phenomenal combination of flavors! This sounds so lip smacking good! Perfect with pancakes!
Btw – thank you for your informative post, Stacy – I had no clue about the time involved or of the amount of sap that yields a container of maple syrup – and I had no clue that maple syrup is alkaline!

maple syrup is something we only get online…don’t have them in stores…today we learnt so much about harvesting it,this bourbon flavored maple syrup will make breakfast the most beautiful part of the day…so fragrant and we can imagine how delicious it will taste with buttermilk waffles,a must try,thanks 🙂

Confession time… It wasn’t until my twenties that I started putting maple syrup on my pancakes. In my house growing up we always used Mrs. Buttersworth. I thought it was maple syrup! I’ll never forgive my parents for that… Anyhoo, this looks amazing, Stacy. I don’t use apple cider much, but I sure use bourbon when I can. Thanks for sharing 🙂
~Liz (Project Pastry Love)Liz recently posted…Vanilla Saffron Cupcakes

OK this is awesome! I adore maple syrup, apple cider, bourbon, pancakes/waffles/French toast – so this would be something I would love to try! Pinning and trying for sure – thanks for the idea!Amy (Savory Moments) recently posted…Silky peanut butter pie

How cool! I didn’t know Maple Syrup Fests were celebrated at this time of year! The pumpkin spice french toast and homemade pumpkin butter both sound absolutely heavenly (: And I love the idea of reduced apple cider in maple syrup

This maple syrup looks absolutely incredible, Stacy! I love that you are sharing all these maple recipes because we are heading to the sugar bushes this week too! I can just imagine how amazing this tastes with the fresh pressed cider and bourbon!

Not sure how I missed this post. Hope you are doing well girl.
That’s a great combo of flavors there. I love love maple syrup and you’ve bourbon in it, oh wow. I am craving a huge stack of pancakes with this maple syrup. You could never go wrong with a good boozy syrup. Yum.
Great post as always.
xoxo

Aha! I knew there had to be reason for all the autumnal sounding recipes. 🙂 I love this post. It’s like a little research paper on maple harvesting! This syrup sounds like an excellent way to celebrate maple season. 🙂Erin @ Texanerin Baking recently posted…Soft and Chewy Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Welcome to My Kitchen

My name is Stacy. I'm a recipe developer, food writer, baker and member of the IACP. I love to concoct tasty baked creations to share with others—both traditional and gluten-free. Welcome to my Wicked Good Kitchen!